The Home Of A Million Items

When you occurred to stroll by the Picassiette mosaic home by accident, you’d do a double take and retrace your steps.

Mosaics all around the partitions? And damaged glass? Does somebody truly reside right here?

Not anymore, however this was a household residence for years.

Ever since I first noticed {a photograph} of this uncommon home, I had wished to go to it, so after I was in Chartres not too long ago, I lastly did.

This was the kind of picture that lodged in my thoughts. Picture:
Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0, by way of Wikimedia Commons

On the floor, Raymond Isidore was a modest, odd man, and nothing might have foretold he would turn into an completed creator, well-known nicely past his native metropolis of Chartres.

At some point, he discovered a damaged piece of pottery and introduced it residence. And he saved discovering extra, till in the future he determined to embellish his home with them.

The shocking story of Raymond Isidore 

Raymond Isidore was born in 1900, the seventh of eight kids in an especially modest household. His education was fundamental, and he was blind as a baby, healed after a miraculous go to to the Chartres Cathedral, an occasion that might strengthen his religion and play a task in his artwork later in life.

Chartres Cathedral, at dawn ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla Alyanak

He had little education and altered jobs usually, however his life shifted in 1924 when he met and married Adrienne Doucet, a widow 11 years his senior with with three kids of her personal. 

They lived in a small house and would quickly reap the benefits of low-cost authorities loans and purchase a small plot of land to construct a home (in what was as soon as rural and is now a contemporary city road).

Raymond determined to forgo the assistance of the architect offered by the federal government and construct his home himself, with the assistance of his two stepsons, presumably a harbinger of the inventive prowess to come back. By 1931, the household was prepared to maneuver into its three rooms: a kitchen and eating room, a small front room, and a bed room. 

It was all a bit bland and undecorated, boring even, and so it might keep till 1938, when, in Raymond’s personal phrases: 

“I first constructed the home for shelter. However as soon as it was constructed, I discovered small bits of glass or porcelain as I walked within the fields and I picked them up, for no motive apart from their colours and shine. I saved the nice ones and threw the others away. I piled them up in a nook of the backyard. After which I considered turning them right into a mosaic to embellish the home. At first I solely considered doing the partitions.”

The partitions of the Maison Picassiette ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla Alyanak

With World Battle II across the nook, he most well-liked to remain discreet and centered on the inside, which he started to cowl with damaged bits of glass and ceramic, even tile, held in place with cement.

Assigned to a coal warehouse throughout the battle, he developed psychological well being issues and was interned in a psychiatric hospital for some time. As soon as again residence, he took a job as a graveyard sweeper within the cemetery subsequent door, not a very rewarding place however one that might enable him to proceed constructing his masterpiece at night time.

When he ran out of shards, he requested his mates to offer him with damaged dinnerware and when these ran out, he started shopping for plates and glasses, breaking them for his use. Into the night time he labored, by lamplight, till his home was carpeted with mosaics, prompting him to purchase adjoining plots of land. He would adorn these too, with mosaics or frescoes.

Whereas he by no means knew fortune, he would definitely know fame throughout his lifetime. The media ultimately wrote about his home and the phrase unfold, with guests touring to discover this uncommon construction. Even Pablo Picasso got here, as did the photographer Robert Doisneau, who immortalized Isidore and whose go to can be celebrated with an exhibition precisely 50 years after that go to.

Isidore can be fond of those visits and would exhibit his home with satisfaction, however his well being deteriorated and his psychological well being points returned till he was interned once more. At some point, in a storm, he was discovered wandering and died shortly thereafter, simply shy of his sixty fifth birthday.

His home, labeled as a nationwide monument, is a significant attraction in Chartres, with 30,000 visits a yr. Some come to go to as a curiosity, however many are fascinated by the Artwork Brut, or outsider artwork it represents, created by an artist with no inventive background or coaching, and the fruit of his creativeness, very similar to the Postman Cheval’s Perfect Home additional south within the Drôme Provençale.

Extra exterior wall decorations of the Maison Picassiette ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla Alyanak

Maison Picassiette: observe me!

A peek into the small home reveals loads of surprises.

First, as anticipated in a modest three-room residence, the rooms themselves are small, with little area to maneuver round.

Most putting is that every part is roofed in mosaic: partitions, ceilings, furnishings, even his spouse’s stitching machine, all in vivid colours, begging you to cease and discover.

She is quoted as having mentioned, “I’ll need to watch out or subsequent factor you recognize you’ll be masking me in mosaics too!”

Isidore left nothing undecorated, not even his spouse’s stitching machine! ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla Alyanak

Not surprisingly, lots of the motifs reveal a deeply spiritual man, with emphasis on the Chartres Cathedral, scene of his therapeutic.

It is a man who by no means traveled, apart from one journey to Paris, his army service, and his honeymoon on Mont Saint-Michel.

Easel on the left portrays Raymond Isidore and his spouse Adrienne; on the fitting is a mural of the Mont Saint-Michel ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla Alyanak

But in case you have a look at the partitions of his home, they’re coated with unique scenes of faraway locations, whose likenesses he would solely have seen second hand.

He was eager on contrasts, pitting a girl from Brittany on one wall dealing with a girl from Palestine, one within the gentle, the opposite within the shadows.

Two ladies, nose to nose, within the Maison Picassiette ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla Alyanak

As soon as he ran out of area inside, he went exterior. And began another time. He constructed a chapel, whose blues hinted of heaven and, in case we had forgotten, reminded us of his deep spirituality.

A view of the chapel of the Maison Picassiette, considered one of Isidore’s out of doors creations ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla Alyanak

Clearly, his finest work was closest to the home.

Given his poorer well being later in life, his ultimate items weren’t as advantageous as his earlier ones. Right now’s backyard is stuffed with flowers, however the frescoes on the partitions have pale. Nonetheless, a bit like the agricultural countryside Isidore as soon as roamed, this tiny flowered island makes us overlook there is a road simply over the backyard wall.

His supply of inspiration

Isidore’s work has usually puzzled admirers. How did a person with such a humble background and little or no training not solely conceive these artworks however produce them as nicely?

Loads of professionals have tried to second-guess or analyze what pushed Isidore so removed from his origins. He’s been referred to as a spontaneous architect. He’s been referred to as resentful about his life, and his artwork a response to that resentment. 

Some say he wished to decorate life, or that he dreamed of escape to locations he had created with mosaics. He could have merely wished to have a good time his religion by means of the numerous examples of Chartres Cathedral you’ll discover all through the home. Or, he could have been expressing his love for his spouse, given the numerous portraits of her scattered all through the home.

Some relations see a good easier reply: his concepts got here from nightmares.

No matter their supply, the thriller stays of how a poorly educated, solitary and modest man turned an architect, builder, painter and mosaicist on a lifetime inventive journey…

In the long run, the “how” or “why” don’t matter. What counts is the surprise we really feel after we enter this spectacular universe which, someway, was squeezed from Raymond Isidore’s thoughts.

Find out how to go to the Maison Picassiette

From the Mediathèque bus cease, you’ll be able to journey on to the Picassiette cease. I took the #4, however it’s also possible to journey the #6 or #8 (please do examine first, since routes change). The cease is named Picassiette, however maintain a watch out since you’ll need to ring for it.

Then cross the road and stroll uphill alongside the small Rue du Repos. In your proper, at #22, a bit path (you’ll see some mosaics of damaged glass on the bottom indicating you’re in the fitting place) takes you to the home.

You too can stroll from downtown for a wholesome half-hour stroll. When you’re driving, you’ll in all probability discover some areas alongside the Rue du Repos.

When you get to the Maison Picassiette, just a few guidelines are vital to know: it’s delicate, in spite of everything, so keep away from touching issues. Don’t lean towards partitions, and don’t sit on the chairs, nevertheless tempting! 

Earlier than you go…

Raymond Isidore was to some extent obsessive about Chartres Cathedral, presumably due to his youthful expertise.

We, alternatively, are obsessed by its magnificence, and by the stained glass home windows which rank among the many finest preserved specimens from the medieval period.

In line with UNESCO, beneath which the cathedral is protected, “Chartres Cathedral marks the excessive level of French Gothic artwork.”

When you love the Gothic model, subsequent time you head to Normandy, ensure you discover Rouen Cathedral, one other jewel of its time.

Did you get pleasure from this text? I would love in case you shared it!